Counting All the Chanukah Candles in 5783/2022
Another Calendrics Blog Post
First Posted Friday, December 16, 2022 / Yom shishi, 22 Kislev, 5783.
David Orenstein, Emeritus, Danforth CTI,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
david.orenstein@alumni.utoronto.ca
This Sunday, December 18, 2022, at sunset, will be the start of Yom sheni, 25 Kislev, 5783: the first of eight nights of Chanukah for 5783. Celebration will include the lighting of the candles on the Menorah, the candelabra with places for up to eight candles, plus the Shamash, the candle which is responsible for lighting the candles that celebrate the Miracle of Chanukah.
The second lighting will be the next evening, and so on each night in sequence. And we’ll continue until the spectacular last lighting at the sunset that begins Yom sheni, 2 Tevet, 5783.
This last lighting will also be on the evening of Sunday, December 25, 2022, Christmas Day in the Gregorian Calendar.
So, how many candles do you have to light to complete the celebration of the Chanukah miracle each year at this time?
In fact, when I was teaching, I’d regularly included this as a bonus question on tests and quizzes in Chanukah season.
You can approach this question in several ways.
1. Brute force:
Number of Chanukah candles for all eight nights
= 1st Night+ 2nd Night+ 3rd Night+ 4th Night
+ 5th Night+ 6th Night + 7th Night+ 8th Night
= (1+1) + (1+2) + (1+3) + (1+4)
+ (1+5) + (1+6) + (1+7) + (1+8)
= 2 + 3 +4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9
= (2 + 3) + (4 + 5) + (6 + 7) + (8 + 9)
= (5 + 9) + (13 + 17)
= 14 + 30
= 44.
2. Separating the Shamashes from the Others:
Number of Shamashes for Eight Nights + Sum of First Eight Natural Numbers
= (1 +1 +1 + 1 + 1 + 1 +1 +1) + Sum of i where i runs from 1 to 8
= 8 + (n+1)n/2 [where n = 8]
= 8 + (8+1)8/2
= 8 + (9)4
= 8 + 36
= 44
3. Spotting a Pattern and Grouping:
As in Method 1) Starting from 3rd Equals Sign
= 2 + 3 +4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9
= (2 + 9) + (3 + 8) + (4 + 7) + (5 + 6)
= 11 + 11 + 11 + 11
= 4(11)
= 44
4. Advanced Formula:
Sum of First Nine Natural Numbers – The Shamash that’s Not Lit Before the First Night
= Sum of i where i runs from 1 to 9 – 1
= (n+1)n/2 [where n = 9] – 1
= (9 + 1)9/2
= (10)4.5
= 45 – 1
= 44
5. Experiential:
Go Buy a Box of Chanukah Candles to Light your Menorah
= Read the Box
= “44 Candles”
That gives you a total number of candles for an eight-day Festival of Lights, but in what order do you light them?
But that’s another story!
Happy Chanukah!
Links
Previous CSTHA Calendrics Blog Posts:
Re-Reading Torah & Canadian Science in 5783 / 2022(and 2023) post, November 25, 2022.
https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2022/11/25/75314/
Simchat Torah 5783 post, October 26, 2022.
https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2022/10/26/its-simchat-torah-5783-another-calendrics-blog-post/
Yom Kippur 5783 post, October 4, 2022.
https://cstha-ahstc.ca/2022/10/04/im-sorry-ill-do-better-a-calendrics-blog-post/
Putting “Calendrics” in CSTHA “Search” function.
https://cstha-ahstc.ca/?s=Calendrics
Previous BSHM Calendrics Posts:
Re-reading Torah and Mathematics Texts for 5783 / 2022 (and 2023), November 28, 2022.
Re-reading the Torah in 5783 post, November 21, 2022.
https://www.bshm.ac.uk/re-reading-torah-5783-another-calendrics-blog-post
Rosh Ha-Shonah 5783 post, September 6, 2022.
https://www.bshm.ac.uk/my-many-new-years-another-calendrics-blog-post
Passover/Easter post, April 15, 2022.
https://www.bshm.ac.uk/happy-easter-happy-passover
Bibliography
Original Texts of Chanukah story:
Albert Pietersma and Benjamin G. Wright (eds.) (2007),
A New English Translation of the Septuagint, Oxford University Press, New York.
xx + 1027 pp.,
incl. four Books of Maccabees:
-George T. Zerros, “1 Makkabees”, p. 478-502.
-Joachim Schafer, “2 Makkabees”, p. 503-520.
-Cameron Bord-Taylor, “3 Makkabees”, p. 521-529.
-Stephen Westerholm, “4 Makkabees”, p. 530-541
Chanukah Celebrations:
Irving Greenberg (1988), “Assimilation, Acculturation, and Jewish Survival: Hanukkah”. p. 258-282, in The Jewish Way.
-(1988) The Jewish Way, Summit Books, London. 463 pp., incl. 13 pp. annotated biblio., 7 pp. Glossary of Names, 15 pp. index.
Mathematics of Series:
L.B.W. Jolley (1961), The Summation of Series, 2nd rev. ed., Dover Publications, New York.
xii + 251 + (23) +15 pp., icl. 2 pp. biblio.,
23 pp. “Catalogue of Dover Books”,
15 pp. “Catalogue of Dover Science Books”.